Firearm

ABSTRACT

The description refers to a rifle with a shell ( 2 ) to be inserted into a shaft ( 1 ), to which shell ( 2 ) a barrel ( 3 ) can be connected, and with a mounting rail ( 5 ) fixed to the barrel ( 3 ) for accommodating an aiming telescope ( 17 ) projecting backward beyond the barrel ( 3 ). To achieve favorable construction. features, it is suggested that the mounting rail ( 5 ) for accommodating the aiming telescope ( 17 ) engages into a shell guide ( 6 ).

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a rifle with a shell to be inserted into ashaft, to which a barrel can be connected, and with a mounting railfixed at the barrel and projecting backward-beyond the barrel foraccommodating an aiming telescope.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

To be able to re-equip a rifle for various applications it is known tochange the barrel according to the respective requirements. Such anexchange of barrel requires an accurate connection between the barreland its accommodating shell, in which the closure and the trigger areborne. Moreover, it must be ensured that changes resulting in the areaof the aiming device are avoided, otherwise the rifle will have to betested again after each barrel exchange. This is especially difficultwhen aiming telescopes are used, as a sufficiently exact alignment ofthe aiming telescope against the barrel requires a fixed correlation ofthe aiming telescope with the barrel. However, if the receptacle of theaiming telescope is not, as usual, assigned to the shell, but to thebarrel, the aiming telescope must be moved forward, whereby the use ofthe aiming telescope is affected. It is true that the conventionalarrangement of the aiming telescope at the shell ensures a favorableposition of the aiming telescope relative to the rifleman, however,testing the rifle after each barrel exchange cannot be avoided, if anadequate aiming accuracy is demanded. To avoid these drawbacks, it isalso known (U.S. Pat. No. 4,779,370 A) to solder onto the barrel amounting rail projecting backward beyond the barrel, for accommodatingthe aiming telescope. As this mounting rail is assigned to the barreland extends over the closure area above the shell accommodating thebarrel such that the latter is exchangeable, the aiming telescope can bebrought close enough to the eye of the rifleman to favorably utilize therange of vision covered by the aiming telescope, without having to testthe rifle again after each barrel exchange. The drawback of this knownconstruction, however, lies in the fact that, because of the necessaryradial distance between the barrel axis and the axis of the aimingtelescope, and due to the occurring power of repulsion when firing theshot, there are considerable bending stresses acting upon the mountingrail, which, with an increasing length of the mounting rail, lead tovibrations that can be kept within acceptable limits only by adequadelyreinforcing the mounting rail freely projecting backward. However, anyreinforcement of the mounting rail implies an increase of weight, whichshould be avoided as far as possible.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention has therefore the objective to design a rifle with anexchangeable barrel in such a way that a fixed correlation of a mountingrail, projecting backward beyond the barrel and accommodating the aimingtelescop, is ensured without having to expect repulsion-relatedvibration problems or to put up with an increase of weight.

The objective of the invention is achieved in that the mounting rail foraccommodating the aiming telescope engages in a shell guide.

As the mounting rail engages in a shell guide, the receptacle for theaiming telescope can be provided in the shell area, as this is the casewith rifles with non-exchangeable barrels. This means that the radialdistance between the barrel axis and the axis of the aiming telescopethat is relevant for the bending stresses in the mounting rail, can besufficiently reduced to avoid higher bending moments. Additionally, viathe shell guide of the mounting rail, an efficient attenuation ofpossibly occurring vibrations in the area of the mounting rail can beachieved, so that, via the shell guide for the mounting rail, areceptacle of the aiming telescope meeting all requirements is provided.In spite of the engagement of the mounting rail in the shell guide theshell proper remains largely free from the power of repulsion occurringwhen firing the shot and transmitted to the mounting rail, so that theuse of light-weighted plastic shells becomes possible.

Particularly favorable construction features are achieved in that themounting rail forms a sleeve accommodating the barrel end which, in asimple way, permits a rigid connection of the mounting rail with thebarrel, without having to modify the barrel. The barrel end may be gluedinto-this sleeve of the mounting rail.

If the barrel is safely fastened in the sleeve of the mounting rail, afavorable connection facility for the barrel with the shell is providedadditionally, if the sleeve is equipped with a fastening ridgeprojecting radially or on the side opposite the mounting rail and lockedin the shell. As the sleeve can be inserted into the shell with positivefit via the fastening ridge, a favorable power transmission between thebarrel and the shell is achieved after locking the fastening ridge inthe shell, so that the barrel and the shell are exposed to comparativelylow strains during shooting, thus providing for a very simple andinexpensive construction. After all, due to the provided power-reducingconnection of the mounting rail at the barrel, the power transmissionbetween the barrel and the aiming telescope does not constitute anystrain neither for the shaft nor for the shell.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The drawing depicts an example of the subject matter of the invention.

FIG. 1 shows the shell with the inserted barrel of a rifle according tothe invention in a schematic longitudinal section, and

FIG. 2 is a section following the line II—II of FIG. 1 on a largerscale.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The shell 2 inserted into the shaft 1 is connected to an exchangeablebarrel 3, the barrel end of which is glued into a sleeve 4 enclosing it.This sleeve 4 is connected in a single piece to the mounting rail 5,which projects backward beyond the sleeve 4 and engages into a shellguide 6. This shell guide 6 consists of an insert opening starting fromthe front face of the shell 2, with parallel guide bars 7 engaging intolateral guiding grooves 8 of the mounting rail 5, as can be inferredparticularly from FIG. 2.

The sleeve 4 is provided with a fastening ridge 9 on the side oppositethe mounting rail 5, via which the sleeve 4 with the barrel 3 glued inplace is locked in the shell 2. As it is, the shell 2 forms an insertreceptacle 10 between two cheeks 11 that is adapted to the shape of thesleeve 4 and of the fastening ridge 9, which cheeks 11 can be secured inplace against each other by means of tightening nuts 12 cramping thesleeve 4 and the fastening ridge 9. To this end a tensioning pin 13 isinserted into the fastening ridge 9, which, by means of flattenedsections 14, engages into the guiding slots 15 of the cheeks 11 of theshell 2 and puts through the fastening ridge 9 in a penetration opening16. The sleeve 4 with the fastening ridge 9 and the inserted fasteningbolt 13 can be inserted axially into the insert receptacle 10 betweenthe cheeks 11 of the shell 2 down to the stop in a simple way, to bethen cramped via the tightening nuts 12. The tightening nuts 12 engageinto the end-side thread sections of the tensioning pin 13. As can beinferred from FIG. 2, the front part, too, of the shaft 1 can beconnected to the shell 2 via the tightening nuts 12.

After positioning the barrel 3 in the shell 2 as described, the closuremay be inserted into the shell 2 as usual, and the rifle may be loaded.As the mounting rail 5 for accommodating the aiming telescope 17 isrigidly connected with the barrel 3 via the sleeve 4, the receptacle 18for the aiming telescope 17 to be provided on the mounting rail 5 isdetermined relative to the barrel 3, so that a barrel 3 once tested withthe aiming telescope 17 can be exchanged, without having to be testedagain after the exchange. After all, the position of the aimingtelescope receptacle 18 relative to the barrel 3 is not altered whenconnecting the barrel 3 to the shell 2, so that tolerances unavoidablewhen changing the barrel do not affect the aiming accuracy. The mountingrail 5 projecting backward beyond the barrel 3 and fixedly assigned tothe barrel 3 permits a favorable arrangement of the aiming telescope 17in the shell area, with the shell guide 6 for the mounting rail 5providing an additional alignment facility for the barrel 3 relative tothe shell 2. Moreover, as the mounting rail 5 is guided in the shell 2,a comparatively small distance between the barrel axis and the axis ofthe aiming telescope 17 can be maintained, so that the repulsion-relatedbending forces on the mounting rail 5 that depend on this distance canalso be kept low. Moreover, as the mounting rail 5 is supported in theshell guide 6, any bending vibrations are attenuated, which leads to afavorable and solid construction.

Due to the immediate power transmission between the barrel 3 and theaiming telescope 17 via the mounting rail 5 assigned to the barrel 3,construction benefits are achieved for rifles with non-exchangeablebarrels, too, as in this case the shell 2 can be made, for instance, ofplastic because of the lower strain.

What is claimed is:
 1. Rifle with a shell (2) to be inserted into ashaft (1), to which shell (2) a barrel (3) can be connected, and with amounting rail (5) fixed at the barrel (3) and projecting backward beyondthe barrel (3) for accommodating an aiming telescope (17), characterisedin that the mounting rail (5) for accommodating the aiming telescope(17) engages in a shell guide (6).
 2. Rifle according to claim 1,characterised in that the mounting rail (5) forms a sleeve (4)accommodating the barrel end.
 3. Rifle according to claim 1,characterised in that the sleeve (4) is provided with a radiallyprojecting fastening ridge (9) on the side opposite the mounting rail(5), which can be locked in the shell (2).